Leprosy has tormented
humans throughout recorded history. The earliest possible account
of a disease that many scholars believe is leprosy appears in an Egyptian
Papyrus document written around 1550 B.C. Around 600 B.C. Indian writings
describe a disease that resembles leprosy. In Europe, leprosy first
appeared in the records of ancient Greece after the army of Alexander
the Great came back from India and then in Rome in 62 B.C. coinciding
with the return of Pompeii's troops from Asia Minor.

Throughout its
history, leprosy has been feared and misunderstood. For a long time
leprosy was thought to be a hereditary disease, a curse, or a punishment
from God. Before and even after the discovery of its biological cause,
leprosy patients were stigmatized and shunned. For example, in Europe
during the Middle Ages, leprosy sufferers had to wear special clothing,
ring bells to warn others that they were close, and even walk on a
particular side of the road, depending on the direction of the wind.
Even in modern times, leprosy treatment has often occured in seperate
hospitals and live-in colonies called leprosariums because of the
stigma of the disease. Leprosy has been so prevalent in various areas
as certain times throughout history that is has inspired art work
and influenced other cultural practices.

Nigerian
Mask: A representation of leprosy disfigurement

Photo credit: Charles Davis. Photo
courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Modern
History of Leprosy: a timeline of trials and treatments

1873:

Dr. Gerhard Henrik
Armauer Hansen of Norway was the first person to identify the germ that
causes leprosy under a microscope. Hansen's discovery of Mycobacterium
leprae proved that leprosy was caused by a germ, and was thus not
hereditary, from a curse, or from a sin.

early
20th century:

Until
the late 1940s, leprosy doctors all over the world treated patients by
injecting them with oil from the chaulmoogra nut. This course of treatment
was painful, and although some patients appeared to benefit, its long
term efficacy was questionable.

Chaulmoogra
Nut

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_chaulmoogra.htm

Chaulmoogra
Oil Injection

http://www.leprosyhistory.org/graphics/gallery/chaul3.jpg

1921:

U.S. Public Health
Service established the Gillis W. Long Hansens Disease Center
in Carville, Louisiana, which became known as Carville.
It became a center of research and testing to find a cure for leprosy
and a live-in treatment center for leprosy patients.

1941:

Promin,
a sulfone drug, was introduced as a treatment for leprosy. It was first
identified and used at Carville. Promin successfully treated leprosy but
unfortunately treatment with Promin required many painful injections.

1950s:

Dapsone
pills, pioneered by Dr. R.G. Cochrane at Carville, became the treatment
of choice for leprosy. Dapsone worked wonderfully at first, but unfortunately,
M. leprae eventually began developing dapsone resistance.

1970s:

The
first successful multi-drug treatment (MDT) regimen for leprosy was developed
through drug trials on the island of Malta.

1981:

The
World Health Organization began recommending MDT, a combination of three
drugs: dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine. MDT with these drugs takes
from six months to a year or even more, depending on stregnth of leprosy
infection.

Now:

MDT
with a combination of dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine is still the
best treatment for preventing nerve damage, deformity, disability and
further transmission. Researchers are working on developing a vaccine
and ways to detect leprosy sooner in order to start treatment earlier.